"Wonderland by Night" (German title ''"Wunderland bei Nacht"'') is a
popular song
Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Funk ...
by
Bert Kaempfert that was a ''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
'' number one hit for three weeks, starting January 9, 1961. It was recorded in July 1959. The song was written by Klaus Günter Neumann with English lyrics by
Lincoln Chase. It was Bert Kaempfert's first hit with his orchestra. The song featured Charly Tabor on trumpet.
"Wonderland by Night" also crossed over to the R&B chart where it peaked at number five.
Chart history
All-time charts
Notable cover versions
*Another cover, recorded and released by
Louis Prima, also charted in the same year, reaching #15 on the Billboard charts.
*
Anita Bryant
Anita Jane Bryant (born March 25, 1940) is an American singer known for anti-gay activism. She scored four "Top 40" hits in the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s, including "Paper Roses" which reached No. 5 on the charts. She was th ...
's version, which included orchestrations by Lew Douglas, reached #18 on the US Pop Chart.
In popular culture
A German-language
numbers station
A numbers station is a shortwave radio station characterized by broadcasts of formatted numbers, which are believed to be addressed to intelligence officers operating in foreign countries. Most identified stations use speech synthesis to vocal ...
(G10) was operated by one of Polish intelligence agencies and was active until the late 1970s which used Keampfert's version of the song and its b-side repeated twice followed by the average format of a numbers station. it was later replaced by G11, which was most recently active from 2007 to 2014.
See also
*
List of ''Billboard'' Hot 100 number-one singles of 1961
References
{{Bert Kaempfert
Songs about nights
1960 singles
1961 singles
Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles
Cashbox number-one singles
Anita Bryant songs
Decca Records singles
1960 songs
1960s instrumentals
Number-one singles in New Zealand
Songs written by Lincoln Chase